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Heads roll at nuclear firm in wake of fiasco

Prime Minister Stephen Harper cleaned house at Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. on Friday, appointing a new chair and CEO to lead the company as it scrambles to relaunch production of critical medical isotopes.

Harper announced Friday evening that he had accepted the resignation of AECL's chairman, Michael Burns, effective Dec. 31. Glenna Carr will take over as chair, while Hugh MacDiarmid will become CEO.

The previous CEO, Robert Van Adel, retired earlier this fall.

The shakeup at AECL comes in the wake of the controversial shutdown of the company's nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ont., about 180 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, resulting in a global shortage of isotopes used in cancer tests and other medical treatments.

Earlier this week, Harper hinted that heads might roll.

"I can certainly assure the House that when this is all behind us the government will carefully examine the role of all actors in this incident and make sure that accountability is appropriately restored," he told the House of Commons.

Much of Harper's wrath had been focused on the Nuclear Safety Commission and its president, Linda Keen. The prime minister accused the "Liberal-appointed" watchdog of jeopardizing the lives of tens of thousands of Canadians by refusing to approve the restart of the reactor.

Liberal MP Omar Alghabra said the shakeup vindicated his party's focus on the handling of the affair by AECL, not the nuclear safety watchdog.

"All week long we've been posing serious questions about the performance of AECL and this government," said Alghabra.

The Liberals also took pleasure in noting that Burns, who was appointed in October 2006, was once chief fundraiser for the Canadian Alliance and chairman of the Canadian Alliance Fund. The Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservatives in 2003 to form the Conservative Party.

Meanwhile, cabinet records show that the Harper government named a defeated New Brunswick provincial election candidate to the Nuclear Safety Commission just days before Harper alleged partisan connections between Keen and the Liberal party.

Cabinet approved the appointment of former Tory candidate Ronald Barriault only eight days before Harper made his controversial comments about Keen being a Liberal appointee. Keen has denied any political affiliation.

The Nuclear Safety Commission first raised concerns about the reactor's safety in spring 2006, when the facility's licence came up for renewal. The nuclear watchdog granted a new licence to AECL in August last year, on the understanding that AECL would complete seven safety upgrades.

But on Nov. 19, commission inspectors discovered that one of the upgrades -- the connection of two cooling pumps to a backup power supply -- had not been carried out as promised.

AECL shut down the reactor on Nov. 18 for a planned maintenance check, but announced on Dec. 4 that it would extend the shutdown to complete the safety upgrade. Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn and Health Minister Tony Clement revealed this week that they learned of the extended shutdown on Dec. 4 and 5, respectively.

Parliament passed emergency legislation Wednesday ordering AECL to restart the reactor.

Carr is the former chair of the Board of Ontario Independent Electricity System Operators, and a former deputy minister in three ministries within the Ontario government.